Fabric computing or unified computing involves constructing a computing fabric consisting of interconnected nodes that look like a weave or a fabric when seen collectively from a distance.[1]
Usually the phrase refers to a consolidated high-performance computing system consisting of loosely coupled storage, networking and parallel processing functions linked by high bandwidth interconnects (such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand)[2] but the term has also been used to describe platforms such as the Azure Services Platform and grid computing in general (where the common theme is interconnected nodes that appear as a single logical unit).[3]
The fundamental components of fabrics are "nodes" (processor(s), memory, and/or peripherals) and "links" (functional connections between nodes).[2] While the term "fabric" has also been used in association with storage area networks and with switched fabric networking, the introduction of compute resources provides a complete "unified" computing system.[citation needed] Other terms used to describe such fabrics include "unified fabric",[4] "data center fabric" and "unified data center fabric".[5]
Ian Foster, director of the Computation Institute at the Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago suggested in 2007 that grid computing "fabrics" were "poised to become the underpinning for next-generation enterprise IT architectures and be used by a much greater part of many organizations".[6]
According to Ian Foster, Director of the Computation Institute at the Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago, 'grid computing "fabrics" are now poised to become the underpinning for next-generation enterprise IT architectures and be used by a much greater part of many organizations.'